IT is arguably the most emotive issue in Welsh rugby - the distribution of international match tickets.

And like a lot of things in Welsh rugby at the moment, it has come to a head because of the dire financial state of the WRU.

First and foremost the policy - which is cast in tablets of stone in the governing body's constitution - that tickets be sold directly in the first instance to the union's member clubs, is no different to the policy adhered to by the other home unions.

It is also a principle to be found in other spheres. Just try getting a ticket for football's FA Cup final if you are not a season-ticket holder at one of the respective clubs.

And traditionalists will argue that is how it should always be.

Their argument is that if you have a system whereby the WRU sells tickets direct to the public, then rugby clubs would lose membership and the real supporters - and for some they can only be the ones who watch club rugby week in, week out - lose out.

But it's a system that is, in the current climate, doing the WRU no good at all. And not surprisingly, market forces are starting to win the day in the mind of union boss David Moffett, who has prime responsibility for wrestling with the WRU's mountainous debts.

He is more than likely frustrated that the 25,000 people his organisation is thought to have registered on its database cannot simply hand over their money for tickets as and when they choose.

Moffett is probably deeply concerned that the WRU's most valuable commodity is out of the hands of central command for such an extended period in the run-up to games.

He wants the cash registers ringing day in, day out and he wants greater responsibility for ensuring that they are.

So far, the WRU has exercised discretion in calling for unsold tickets to be returned by the clubs, usually with a deadline of no later than a fortnight before the game.

But too many clubs have abused this and Moffett has lost patience.

He wants a steady drip-feed of cash from ongoing sales rather than having to wait until the Monday morning after a Test match for the clubs to return the proceeds from the tickets handed to them.

When the match against Ireland was cancelled in 2001 because of foot-and-mouth, millions of pounds of the union's money lay idle in club vaults for months.

That is why at the very least you have to feel that Moffett is right at least to get the debate rumbling by calling for a change to the system.

The game is changing. Just who are the real fans these days? The die-hard club members prepared to stand in driving rain each Saturday?

Or the guy down the local pub? The guy who may not be able to go to every match but still loves the game, talks about it with his mates, takes his kids to play it on a Sunday morning, and devours the newspapers, TV and radio which chronicle rugby's every development. We live in a new era. New era, new definitions.

And it is difficult not to conclude that parts of the present system represent utter lunacy.

Too many tickets fall into the wrong hands by giving them en masse to the clubs. Too often they are snapped up in one fell swoop by a company who may have entered into an arrangement with a particular club, or by an agent who subsequently distributes them across the border.

Let us ask ourselves: Why were there so many England fans at the last match between the two countries at the Millennium Stadium when their official allocation totalled around 7,000? Instead England had around a 40 per cent turnout. Ridiculous.

Yes, they remain vital to most clubs as a means of attracting sponsors. But then what would be wrong with providing a drastically reduced number of tickets which could be used specifically for this purpose?

Schedules too have changed. What on earth is the point of giving clubs tickets at this time of the year when half the village is away on holiday, including the secretary, and mindsets are not generally switched on to rugby. So it's not hard to see why Moffett has chosen now to air his feelings.

There are 74,500 tickets to allocate these days instead of 52,000. The kudos of going to a game at the Millennium Stadium has long since gone but there remain plenty of folk who are willing to pay handsomely for the pieces of paper that give them the right to attend.

And the union needs their cash. The game needs their cash. Tickets piling up unwanted on club desks represents a criminal and unacceptable waste.

A new system that ensures real supporters and their families are given the chance to watch their national side, while also rewarding the diehards, needs to be worked out.